This invention relates to adapters for use with disposable thermometers. More particularly, it relates to adapters attached to disposable thermometers having improved thermal conductivity to the thermometer especially useful in rectal applications.
Disposable thermometers have been provided for use in human oral temperature taking and some of which have been shown to be just as accurate as mercury and glass thermometers. Examples of one type of disposable thermometer useful herein are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,677,088 and Des. 233,472, assigned to Bio-Medical Sciences, Inc., and are hereby incorporated by reference. These disposable thermometers utilize a plurality of pockets embossed in an aluminum carrier. Each pocket contains a chemical which will progressively melt at a certain predetermined temperature usually 0.2.degree. C apart. A clear material is normally laminated over the aluminum carrier. One such disposable thermometer is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. As stated previously, these disposable thermometers were made generally for oral temperature taking. The aluminum carrier is made of a very thin material. The thermometer was not very rigid and because of this thinness and lack of rigidity, it was not suited for rectal temperature taking. In order to overcome these problems, rectal adapters have been designed. An example of a prior art rectal adapter is shown in FIG. 3.
Rectal adapter 3 includes grooved out portion 4 for receiving disposable thermometer 1. Handle 7 of the disposable thermometer was fitted into handle receiving portion 8 of the rectal adapter. The rectal adapter was made of polypropylene material and was of sufficient thickness and rigidity to provide comfort during rectal use. It has been found, however, by experimentation that disposable thermometers used with the prior art rectal adapter are not as accurate as glass and mercury thermometers. Because of the insulation to isolation effects of prior art rectal adapters, disposable thermometers, utilizing the adapter as shown in FIG. 3, quite often registered lower temperatures than mercury and glass thermometers, and furthermore, sometimes there was no registration at all. Also sometimes some of the indicator dots were skipped in their firing sequence because of their insulation and isolation.